A fisherman found a body wrapped in a comforter in woods near Butler County Road 611 in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, on the evening of Saturday, September 7, 2024. Local and state agencies opened a homicide investigation and identified the victim as 32-year-old Johnathan K. Esparza of Poplar Bluff. An autopsy and the Butler County Coroner determined Esparza died from multiple gunshot wounds and investigators concluded the fatal shooting occurred the night before, Friday, September 6.

Detectives report Esparza had been riding in a stolen van with two acquaintances, Jonathan Kimbrough and Wanda Stevens. A physical altercation between Esparza and Stevens allegedly led Kimbrough to produce a firearm and shoot Esparza multiple times while Esparza sat in the driver’s seat. Kimbrough and Stevens then wrapped the body in bedding, transported it to the remote site off County Road 611 and left it there.

Both Kimbrough, 33, and Stevens, 31, were arrested and charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action. Did anyone in the Poplar Bluff area see the van or the three together on September 6?